A. In Jeremiah 31:31-34, God gave the prophecy of a new covenant with His people.
1. Jeremiah prophesied at the end of Judah's sovereignty as the nation was taken captive and its population deported to Babylon because of their stubborn refusal to repent of their sins.
2. In the midst of this doom and destruction, Jeremiah 31:31-34 shone forth as a beacon of hope for a better time for the people of God. This prophecy of a new covenant (meaning testament, will, arrangement, or agreement) concluded with this promise from God for the future: "I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
B. We know exactly how and when this prophecy was fulfilled, for the book of Hebrews declares it.
1. In Hebrews 8:6-13, Jesus is identified as the Mediator of this new covenant, and Jeremiah 31:31-34 is quoted directly. This passage makes it abundantly clear that the new covenant of Jesus Christ is the means by which God has forgiven iniquities and forgotten sins.
2. In Hebrews 10:14-18, Jeremiah's prophecy is quoted again, and it is shown that the single sacrifice of Jesus Christ by His death on the cross has provided forgiveness for those who are sanctified under this new covenant.
C. Presently, let us focus on God's promise in Jeremiah 31:34 and consider the wonderful blessings of having our sins forgiven and forgotten by God.
II. I WILL FORGIVE THEIR INIQUITY
A. God is overflowing with forgiveness according to His nature.
1. In Psalm 86:5, David praised God, saying, "For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.”
2. God wants to forgive man of sins. Indeed, He "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1Tim. 2:4). He is "not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2Pet. 3:9).
B. However, God is also just, which means that every sin must be compensated with an appropriate penalty. That penalty is death.
1. The law of God concerning sin is very simple: "The soul who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:4). In other words, every sin is a capital crime.
2. By God's law, "the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), and thus death reigned among men from the time of Adam because all sinned (Rom. 3:23; 5:12).
3. The justice of God demands that this law must be satisfied. The word of God is unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience must receive a just penalty (Heb. 2:2).
C. How then can God bring together His desire to forgive sins and His requirements for justice? It is through the sacrifice of Jesus.
1. How can man be forgiven by God and live for eternity when his just and due penalty is death? Of course, the answer is in the cross of Christ, for Jesus paid the penalty for us.
a. Consider Isaiah 53:5-6 concerning Jesus:
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
b. Romans 5:6-10 explains it this way:
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
2. It was through the sacrifice of His Son that God "would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). Praise, glory, and thanksgiving be to God for His wonderful gift!
III. THEIR SIN I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE
A. When God forgives sins, He also forgets them. Consider what this means.
1. This means that the forgiven sinner's record is clear. Christ's redeeming sacrifice has erased the guilt of sin so that he will not be called to account for it.
a. God's word declares, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2Cor. 5:10). However, the forgiven sinner will not be recompensed for his bad deeds, for the compensation has already been made by Christ.
b. Likewise, Romans 14:12 says, "So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” However, the forgiven sinner will not be called to account for his forgotten sins.
2. The debt of death has been satisfied for sinners who are forgiven through faith in Christ.
a. Consider Colossians 2:13-14:
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
b. The debt for past sins has been paid and settled, and forgiven sinners will not be called upon to pay it again. It has been taken away forever.
3. The Bible frequently refers to God's forgiveness as the blotting out or the wiping out of sins.
a. Notice a few such references from the Old Testament.
i. Psalm 51:1 – Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
ii. Psalm 51:9 – Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.
iii. Isaiah 43:25 – "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
iv. Isaiah 44:22 – "I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
v. Jeremiah 50:20 – "In those days and at that time,” declares the LORD, "search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.”
b. Similarly, the New Testament speaks of forgiveness through the gospel of Christ as a clearing away of old transgressions. Consider a few verses.
i. Acts 3:19 – "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
ii. Acts 22:16 – "Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”
iii. Romans 11:26-27 – "…and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.'” (from Isaiah 59:20-21)
B. Although God forgets sins when He forgives them, this does not mean that the temporal consequences of sin are taken away.
1. Baptism into Christ washes away sins (Acts 22:16), but it does not miraculously erase the traces of past sins from this world.
a. For example, a murderer on death row who obeys the gospel can be forgiven by God, but his sentence from the civil court remains.
b. Likewise, a drunkard who has destroyed his body with alcohol will not miraculously recover his health after baptism.
2. However, a sinner forgiven in Jesus Christ has a new and better way for handling the temporal consequences of his past sins.
a. The removal of his guilt in the sight of God and the wisdom of God's word will allow him to perform "deeds appropriate to repentance” (Acts 26:20).
b. He will even be able to make restitution for some of his former sins and reconcile to some people he has offended in the past.
IV. CONCLUSION
A. What a blessing are these words: "I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
B. Consider yourself. When you stand in judgment, will you be forgiven? Will your sins be remembered?
